Midlands Run To Wales - 8Th To 10Th August 2014

[richyb66]

the trip up is twice as far as the trip on Saturday --- 250miles

 

Will be good to see you there, best set youselves an early alarm!!!

Edited June 18, 2014 by richyb66

[richyb66]

Right, it’s just over 3 weeks to go now, so time to firm up some of the Friday travel arrangements. Last year’s trip up to Wales ran a bit late meaning that the teatime eating venue had to be re-located, so in an attempt try and speed thinks up it’s been suggested that we have fewer meeting points and also try and minimise the delays (chatting!!) where we meet up. This is a long drive and can get busy on a Friday afternoon but I’d like everyone to get past the worst of the traffic with the fewest delays possible so they have more time to enjoy the better roads later on in the day. Initial thoughts for travel on Friday 8^th August are as follows.

 

Andi has indicated that the Leics. guys will arrange their own meet up and then travel across to the next meeting point at the lay-by near the Copper Kettle café on the A5 near Atherstone CV9 1RE at 2PM

 

From here I suggest a route following the A5 up to Churchbridge near Cannock, pick up the A460 down towards the M54 J1 and then follow the M54 / A5 to the next meeting point:

 

Dobbies Garden Centre, Shrewsbury SY3 0DA where there’s also a petrol station and I suggest filling up here. ETA here depends on traffic but I’d like to think that it would be sometime around 3-30PM (approx distance for this leg is 58 miles).

From here it’s nice and easy, just follow the A5 to the next meeting point.

 

Rhug Farm Shop, nr Corwen LL21 0EH. No fuel here but toilets and hopefully food if we’re here before 6 (which we weren’t last year). This time I’m hoping the ETA will be before 5PM (approx distance for this leg is 42 miles). Like last year. I’ll meet everyone here so I’ll hopefully be there nice and early.

 

From here we can do another fuel stop nearby if required then we’ll head up through Bala, Llan Ffestiniog and Porthmadog to Nefyn. Like last time I’ll tailor the route on the day to suit the traffic but it’s about 38 miles to Porthmadog and then another 20 odd to Nefyn.

 

I’m hoping that our final arrival time will give everyone the chance to get checked into their accommodation and still get out for a quick drink afterwards if they feel able.

 

Obviously not everyone’s going to want to travel in a convoy so if people want to make their own way then that’s fine. If people want to leave earlier but still meet up at Rhug for the last bit of the drive, I’d suggest they stop off in Llangollen. There’s a large car park in Market Street which has toilets next to it and there’s food and the steam railway within easy walking distance if you want to kill a bit of time.

 

If anyone needs more detailed information about the route or has anything to add, let me know.

Edited July 16, 2014 by richyb66

[fry61]

Will meet you at Dobbies ,it 's a 3 hour stroll for us -- so plan on leaving home late morning which will give us a coffee stop mid-way if all goes well.

[richyb66]

Bob, are you coming up the M5, M6, M54 or doing the scenic route via Gloucester, Leominster and Ludlow?

[Andi]

Very well planned out Rich.

looking forward to it.

 

Andi

[fry61]

Bob, are you coming up the M5, M6, M54 or doing the scenic route via Gloucester, Leominster and Ludlow?

 

 

??? Sat-nav Jane will dictate the route, & I follow her instructions unless over-ruled by my wife. Will probably take a non- motorway route if time & weather allow.

Edited July 17, 2014 by florin metal works

[richyb66]

Had a bit of a dry run today. I'm on holiday for the next week so I drove the kit up to Wales to see how my timings were looking. I'm about 10 minutes West of the Copper Kettle in Tamworth so I'd planned on leaving at 2-15 ish to represent a 2PM departure form the Copper Kettle.

 

I actually got away at 3PM so possibly a bit more traffic about but I took a steady run up just with the normal traffic flow and 70 on the M54.

 

It took me 1 hour 10 minutes to get to Dobbies in Shrewsbury, it took me another hour to get to Rhug farm shop, then an hour to Porthmadog and finally 30 minutes to Nefyn so not much slower that gunning it in the tin top. My timings in the earlier post seem fairly generous and the journey time from Dobbies to Rhug is more dependant of the speed of the other traffic than how fast you want to drive due to limited overtaking opportunities.

 

I had one stop for fuel at Dobbies and then an unscheduled stop on the B4391 about 3 miles from Llan Ffestiniog with a broken throttle cable. This held me up for 40 minutes while I fixed it but I've only got myself to blame - I noticed it was frayed at the carb end a couple of weeks ago but I forgot to order a new one. The repair held out to get me here but I'll try and get a new cable tomorrow.

[richyb66]

Not long to go now so time for a quick run through some times for Friday afternoon.

 

The Leics lads are going to meet Jez at the Copper Kettle nr Atherstone CV9 1RE at around 2PM (possibly a bit earlier depending on how quick. Jez can get there. When they leave, Jez will text me and Thrashed.

 

Next meet will be at Dobbies Garden Centre Shrewsbury SY3 0DA most likely around 3-30PM. Thrashed and Florin will hopefully be waiting there. The petrol station at Dobbies gets quite busy and once you get fuel, you can only really re-join the A5 because there’s not much parking there. If anyone gets there early and wants to save time, they could fuel up then drive back around the A5 island so that they can park up and wait.

 

When you finally leave there you’ll be turning left onto the A5 towards Oswestry. Again this can take a bit of time getting out on the island if the traffic is busy and everyone will get split up, so I’d advise just get out onto the A5 and then stick to about 55mph. There’s about 3 miles of dual carriageway, followed by 2 miles of single then another couple of miles of dual carriageway again to allow everyone to catch up. Can someone text me when you’re leaving Dobbies please?

 

Final meeting point is Rhug Farm Shop Corwen LL21 0EH between 4-30PM and 5-00PM where Martin and I will be waiting. If everyone makes reasonable time and there’s not too much traffic, we can grab some food and have a chat here before we carry on.

 

All times are approximate, if we end up running early that’s great and if we can minimize delays at the meeting points and save it for Rhug when we eat, it would be a big help. If there’s any major delay on the day, LET ME KNOW so I can keep everyone informed. I can pm my mobile number to anyone who needs it.

 

I’ve prepared some small maps of the local Nefyn area to help with getting around and the food preparations for Saturday’s BBQ are well underway. Local boy Knownothing (Richard) will be meeting up with us on Saturday for his first big run out so it will be nice to see another new face. Weather forecasts in North West Wales are largely irrelevant, I can’t guarantee that the weather will be decent but at least the welcome will be warm.

 

If you want to come along then it’s not too late – just decide what you want to do and let me know if you want feeding on Saturday night – if you’re veggie let it be known and I get extra lettuce in. Food and soft drinks provided, if you want beer then bring it along. Any other questions – just ask.

 

I’m driving up Thursday night, see everyone Friday!

[richyb66]

Proving it's not too late to come along and returing for his second year, RedTrev will now be joining us.He's probably going to meet up at Dobbies in Shrewsbury.

[fry61]

Just cleaning & checking Florin after the 2000 miles around Europe & we will be on our way again tomorrow; hopefully meeting at Dobbies for 3p.m.

[richyb66]

I dipped the oil and cleaned the windscreen last night. I'm heading up tonight leaving around 7-30 so I'll be arriving quite late but at least I should have some quiet roads on the way.

 

Toworrow I'll head back to Rhug and should see everyone there sometime after 4PM.

[fry61]

A mobile number would be good Richard; just in case us old parts "are temporally unsure of position"

[keith kelly]

So who is letting me bunk up with them on sat night? I have checked and you all have twin rooms. Or shall I take my tent?

[Andi]

Well, Kerry did say he might get a bit homesick in another country. So the sounds and smells of Leicestershire might make him feel ok.

Go for it Keith

 

Andi

[RedTrev]

Proving it's not too late to come along and returing for his second year, RedTrev will now be joining us.He's probably going to meet up at Dobbies in Shrewsbury.

 

Yes, looking forward to it Rich. If I can get away from Cov around 1.30 I should make it to Dobbies between 3.00 and 3.30.

 

See y'all later.